'Don't you…want to seeeee…yourrrr…friieeendsss..aliveeee..once…..mooreee?'

The sentence reverberated inside Rey's mind. Memories of the time they were all together resurfaced. The feeling of grief, anger and guilt mixed with the fear present in his heart.

'Weird, this seems awfully familiar.'

He mumbles inwardly with a concerned tone. There was another feeling that was tugging at him, a feeling he had experienced countless times. In his bones he felt as if his body knew what would happen.

"Issss….that….a..yeessss?"

The demon inquired. Rey hesitated at first, but he slowly nodded. Ignoring the crippling fear that was weighing him down he decided to ask a question.

"H-how do I get to see them again?"

The smiling expression present on the demons face shifted into a calm one.

"I..will...let..youuu..alter..their fates, as…if..nothing..ever..happened..to..them..at..all."

"In exchange for?"

"hm..hmm..hmmm…a..favor…"

A favor? Rey's brows twitched. Something was off, but the demon was being nonchalant about it.

"and..ahh..of...course…your..life…too."

The expression on Rey's face became grim. His life was saved countless of times by his friends, for him to freely give the life they saved made him feel guilty.

"If I accept what would happen?"

"If…I..was..at..my..prime..I..would..have…ssseeent..youu..back..to..the..paaasstt..but….due..to..the….fatal..wound..I…suffered..that..would..be…impossible..but.."

"But?"

"sending….back..fragments…of..your…memories…is..possible..It..may..or..may..not..alter..the….future"

"And If I don't accept the conditions?"

"simple..…you..would..still..dieee.."

Rey pondered for a moment. There was no way out of this deal, all choices led to his death. His friends gave his life up for him, He would also gladly give his life up for them as long as there's a chance in saving them. He steeled his resolve and spoke.

"What's the favor then?"

His tone hinted a bit of suspicion. The demon noticed this but it just ignored it.

"You…will..know…once..you..accept.."

His suspicion deepened, but he couldn't do anything about it. He had no choice but to accept. As he was about to accept the deal, the demon asked him a question.

"Have..you..ever…felt…Déjà vu… before…?"

Rey looked at the demon with a confused expression. The question itself evoked the feeling of déjà vu as if it this wasn't the first time the demon asked him this question.

"Countless of times."

"I..see…hmm..hmmm..hmmmm…"

The demon mumbled something to itself in demon tongue and it turned its back on Rey. The expression of the demon changed once more, this time a horrifyingly wide smile appeared and its eyes were filled with malice and satisfaction.

It faced Rey again with a calm expression as if nothing ever happened. It started carving unknown symbols in the air with its claws and gazed at Rey after finishing.

"This…is…the..contract..once..you..accept..only…the..most….major..memories...will..be…sent...back..to..the..paastt…"

The demon extended his hand out towards Rey a faint smile could be seen on its face. Rey hesitatingly shook the demons hand. The symbols started to gather around him and the demon. A wave of pain crashed all over his body, and then a sudden, fading darkness overwhelmed all. His hands which were still holding the demons hands lost its strength and his body went limp.

The demon smiled with satisfaction, the life that it had taken soothed the wounds to its soul. It looked at the fresh corpse in front of it and it began to feast.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Clink.

"Did you know...."

Clink. Ding. Tak.

"Can I have some...."

Clink. Shing.

Hsssssss.

The sound of people talking and gossiping mixed with cutleries colliding with plates filled the cafeteria.

"....what if the reincarnation beliefs are actually real. I'd jump in front of a truck without a second thought if that was true."

Rey jokingly said randomly to his friend who was beside him just minding his own business.

"You've been reading too much reincarnation fantasy again haven't you? Well realistically speaking, even if it was real we'd probably lose our memories in the process."

Maki says as he shoves food in his mouth.

"Besides if it was true I'd probably do the same thing as you, but I'd rather get hit by a luxurious car instead of a truck."

Maki added. Rey chuckled in response.

"Say….if we did reincarnate in another fantasy world, would we be the main characters or would we be the side characters?"

Maki queried while looking at Rey with a curious expression.

"Hmmm…"

Rey pondered for a second and spoke.

"Probably? All of the reincarnation fantasies I've read ended up with all of them being the Main protagonist of the world and end up saving it from danger."

Clink. Tak.

Rey cut up a piece of beef from his plate and placed it in his mouth. He looked at Maki who was cheerfully chewing while staring off into the distance.

"Hmm...Maki. Just now I feel like our conversation a while ago already happened before."

"You're imagining things. Its just a strange case of Déjà vu."

"Might be."

Rey shrugs the familiar feeling off and continues to finish his meal oblivious of what had happened in the future.